About Us

Publications

Hidden New York: A Guide to Places that Matter
by Marci Reaven and Steve Zeitlin

Hidden New York starts with 32 fascinating, little-known places in the Big City, meanders to hundreds more, and seasons all with history and first-person commentary. Based on many years of work by City Lore and Place Matters, its delights range from the Hua Mei Garden on the Lower East Side, where Chinese men meet to display exotic birds, to the Edison Hotel in Midtown, where magicians gather around the Magic Table; from the 'stickball boulevard' of the Bronx to the bungalows of Far Rockaway; to a classic piragua drink on an East Harlem sidewalk to the perfect bialy in Coney Island. Historian Mike Wallace says, "if you're ready to venture off the trampled tourist path of statues, skyscrapers, malls and museums, this book's for you."

Research and interviews by Elena Martínez. Contributors: Caitlin Van Dusen, and Natalie De Young, Makalé Faber, David Hochman, Robert Maass, Elena Martínez, Joseph Sciorra, and Roberta Singer. Entries by Tom Klem, Chris Neville, and Jennifer Scott. Photographs by Martha Cooper and other great photographers of New York City's splendid places. Published by Rutgers University Press, and supported, in part, by Furthermore: a Program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. 101 photographs / 384 pages / November 2006.
Copies are available from commercial vendors, or from City Lore for $22.95. Contact us at: citylore@citylore.org or 212.529.1955 ext. 305.

Your Guide to the Lower East Sideby Marci Reaven and Chris Neville
Full-color catalog of 28 new street signs in five languages, installed at six separate locations in September 2007, that celebrate people, places, and community life on Manhattan's Lower East Side. To see all 28 signs in Your Guide to the Lower East Side, download pdf of catalog. To receive a bound print catalog of the catalog by mail, send a check for $6.00, payable to City Lore, to: City Lore, 72 E. 1st St., NYC 10003. For more information on the signs and where to find them, go to Past Projects on this website.

"A South Bronx Latin Music Tale," article for CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (16, 2, 2004)
By Roberta Singer, Ph.D. and Elena Martinez
Research for this article was conducted as part of Place Matters' Community Focus project in the South Bronx. Reprinted courtesy of Xavier Totti. Download PDF of article (Large file, 2mb).

"From Mambo to Hip Hop," illustrated map/brochureBy Marci Reaven and Elena Martinez
Place Matters' documentation of a Latin Music & Hip Hop Trail in Harlem and The Bronx. Available for $3 shipping/handling from Place Matters. Contact us at placematters@citylore.org or City Lore, 72 East First St., NYC 10003.